Contents with tag: climate talks

The 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded its meeting on December 12th, a day behind the original schedule of finalizing an agreement on global efforts to respond to the growing impacts of climate change.

The Paris Climate Summit, happening from 30 November to 11 December, is due to conclude a new international agreement to limit global average temperature rise and avoid the most dangerous consequences of climate change.

The 21st meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) only has a few days left to smooth out an international agreement for measures that will keep the world and its inhabitants safe.

The 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), meeting in Paris with the objective of coming to an agreement on global efforts that will respond to the increasing impacts of climate change, entered its second week of negotiations yesterday.

Three days into the 21st Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), negotiations are nearing fever pitch as the December 4 deadline for a revised draft text of the Paris climate agreement looms.

Over 130 Heads of State have arrived in Paris in an attempt to sign a new global agreement, amidst high expectations of people all around the world for urgent and meaningful action to respond to the climate crisis. Just over the weekend, the world saw the biggest ever climate marches of almost 1 million people gathering in 175 countries demanding leaders to come to an agreement that is binding, ambitious, durable and just, to replace the Kyoto Protocol and to take effect in 2020. This new climate deal that is yet to be agreed on is quite controversial already in the approach it takes, as it calls on each and every government to say just what and how much it is willing to undertake actions to reduce emissions, provide finance, and adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change.

Climate change threatens the right to health. According to the World Health Organization, climate change is already responsible for approximately 150,000 deaths every year. It also worsens environmental conditions, contributing to poorer health, nutrition, and water quality.

On nearly all counts, the Lima outcome amounts to a major step-back on the climate negotiations so far. Even by the dilute standards of the Kyoto Protocol, the draft agreement is unambitious, offers no regulatory framework for what is supposed to be a “binding” climate agreement, and completes a process that blurs the distinction between global north and south.

The People’s Climate March in Lima, Peru, now touted as being the ‘largest march in Lima’ in a long time, was participated in by a diverse group of indigenous peoples, workers, women, farmers, youth, elderly, faith communities, together with representatives of non-government organizations to urge ministers to forge a just deal that actually addresses the root causes of runaway climate change, and upholds the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ (CBDR).

At the ongoing COP 20 in Lima, Peru, civil society stresses that a successful outcome in Lima would mean going to the roots of the climate problem – which means developed countries acknowledging responsibility and compensating for centuries of colonialism and resource plunder, and ceasing to continue this legacy through unequal trade agreements, foreign investment promotion especially on extractives and dirty energy, in collusion with corporations and governments from developing countries.